Emma Duffy, 24, developed the eating disorder after she heard a teacher
calling students fat when she was just eight years old

An anorexic woman who has not eaten for over a year and is reliant on a liquid diet to stay alive could kill herself if the NHS stops her treatment, her parents have warned.

Emma Duffy, 24, developed the eating disorder after she heard a teacher calling students fat when she was just eight years old, her family said.

The former student, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, has been repeatedly sectioned under the mental health act and has tried to take her own life nine times.

Her parents now fear she may not survive after she was not accepted for treatment at one of the only units in the UK which treats eating disorders and personality disorders together - The Retreat in York.

They are desperately trying to raise up to £1 million to pay for it themselves, before it is "too late" for their daughter.

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Beverley Duffy, her mother, said a consultant at Roseberry Park, a facility where Emma is currently being cared for, referred her to The Retreat because she believed it was the only place that could offer her Emma the support she needed to overcome her illness.

"Emma really had to think about whether she actually did want the help or not, but eventually decided this was the only way to save her life,” Mrs Duffy said.

"Then The Retreat turned round and told Emma that she was not the sort of person they could treat and she was refused on of the NHS beds."

Mrs Duffy said that while The Retreat is a private facility, the NHS does own a number of beds and can refer patients there.

"I just can't understand how one part of the NHS can say something will really help - then another arm of the same institution refuses, it's not right," she said.

Emma's problems began when she was just eight, after she overheard a dance teacher saying one of the other girls would never make it as a dancer because she was too overweight.

Her family claim the throwaway comment marked as the start of a lifelong battle against anorexia.

Mrs Duffy said: "We have hope, and believe that she will get better. But even now we don't know the full story.

“It's like a million piece jigsaw, and we have only filled the first line in. It's a mental illness. It's not just about eating."

Mrs Duffy, who did not know anything of her daughter’s disorder until she was 18, added that Emma suffers from borderline personality disorder.

She said: "She is a different Emma sometimes. It's in her eyes. She is violent, she will attack us. She once accused me of trying to murder her and rang the police."

Mrs Duffy and Emma’s sister, Amy, have set up a campaign, Saving Emma, to raise the money needed to send her to the unit, with costs up to £1 million for three years of treatment.

"We want everybody to know what is going on" Mrs Duffy said.

"This won't be the first time it has happened and it wont be the last. Everyone keeps passing her on.

"She's getting weaker and weaker and she needs help. I hope we can raise the money ourselves before it's too late for her."

A spokesman for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are sorry the family has concerns about their daughter's care and would encourage them to get in touch with us through our patient advice and liaison service to discuss these.

“It wouldn't be appropriate for us to comment on the personal details of an individual's care. The responsibility for funding care placements rests with the commissioners of NHS services."